“It is an incredible honour for me to receive this award,” said Kylie. “It makes me feel both humble and proud to be recognized for doing a job that I love so much.”

Speaking after the ceremony to the waiting press Kylie admitted to feeling a little nervous but added “I was very excited and to have my family here was magical… I do feel very proud. I think my job, aside from making music, is about communication and this symbolizes my communication with my audience around the world.”

Of her medal, Kylie said: “I’ll admire it for a while, and then keep it safe in its box!”

I’m not sure why Kylie was singled out for honor by Prince Charles, but I’m guessing it’s because he’s a fan of this great Kylie/New Order mashup – Can’t Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head:

Wow, that sounds a lot like Madonna’s Holiday.

Body Language follows her global hit, Fever. On Fever, Minogue burned through a set of euro-disco and electro dance cuts that kept the pace fast. Body Language has some great dance cuts, but slows things down a bit, too.

The first single from Body Language, “Slow”, does just that. It celebrates slooowwww dancing. Not as catchy as “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind”, “Slow” will stick in your ear just the same, after a few listens. The track is minimal electro pop, and Minogue gets things off to a promising start. Slow as in steamy!

Minogue keeps things sexy with a mixture of some slower songs and a few uptempo numbers. Other strong songs on Body Language are “Still Standing”, which is jumpy and danceable, and “Secret (Take You Home)”.

“Red-Blooded Woman” strays a little from Kylie’s usual electro disco sound, and has more of an American modern R&B vibe. It combines weird rhythmic blurps, a syncopated beat, and what sounds like sampled horns, giving the track more of an urban feel.

“Chocolate” is another standout cut. It also has more of an R&B feel than most of her tracks. Kylie makes it work, though, with the sexy, catchy lyrics and heated groove:

“If love were liquid it would drown me
In a placeless place would find me
In a heart shape come around me and then
Melt me slowly down
If love were a human it would know me
In a lost space come and show me
Hold me and control me and then
Melt me slowly down
Like chocolate”

Gimme some of your chocolate! Whatch U waitin’ for? Yow!

When Minogue sings “Chocolate”, you understand her love is more than love, it’s part human bondage, it’s part obsession, and it’s all passion. “Melt me slowly down, like chocolate” echoes some of the lyrical ideas of “Slow”. It’s part sexy come-on, and part unfulfilled need.

It’s would be easy to criticize some of Minogue’s weaknesses. For one, Minogue doesn’t have a strong voice. Kylie’s strengths, though, are her unrelenting confidence, her craftsmanship in putting together great dance records, and her way of turning european dance pop into a treat.

Body Language shows Minogue, in every sense, at her peak. The songs are fun and catchy, though you might consider them a guilty pleasure. The production is slick, and many of the tracks update retro electronic dance sounds in interesting ways. And she’s got the come-hither ooomph to convice anybody to “Slow down and dance with me…Yeah, slow.”

Kylie’s Body Language may be a vice, but, like chocolate, who can deny its pleasures?

Retro-disco and electronica collide to create music for a world that doesn’t care about categories or styles, but just wants to have fun and dance. If all you’re looking for is a collection of sexy dance cuts, with hardly a slow tune in sight, Kylie’s Fever delivers.

The CD starts with “More More More”, a disco romp that doesn’t try to do much more than be vaguely sexual and explicitly danceable:

“Here am I with my desire
Feel it burning just for you
My, oh my, this love divine
is talking me to somewhere new

Just slide
Get your body down, down, down
And glide
I gotta feel you all around

Boy you got me wanting more, more, more
Give it all up for love babe
You got me saying more, more, more
Wind me up, wind me up”

“Love at First Sight” sounds like it could be an outtake from Madonna’s first album. It’s got the 80’s dance sound down, and the bass is even similar to Madonna’s Holiday.

The highlight of the album, though, is “Can’t Get You Ought of My Mind”. Never was a song more aptly titled. Once you’ve heard this, you won’t be able to get it out of your mind either! Blame Kylie if it leads to madness. The song is infectious and singable. It captures the best elements of seventies disco, and updates it with today’s dance sounds.

There are several other hot cuts on the CD. “Give It To Me” mixes electronica blurps and bleeps with Kylie’s sexy come-on to “Give it to me like I want it.”

“Come into My World” is an upbeat dance number. The lyrics are an almost religious take on human love:

“Come, come, come into my world
Won’t you lift me up, up, high upon your love”

Kylie keeps it moving on cuts like “Dancefloor” and “Burning Up”.

On Fever, Kylie tries to make a CD of good dance music. She delivers. Fever is good dance music, delivered with the honest love of disco that seems to never have gone out of style in Europe.